Green Building + Design | Raisingspaces

Finally I have gotten round to getting some photos uploaded! We are officially moved in, the mortgage has been completed, and we are “done”, although I don’t think the work will ever stop! There’s some niggly trim work to complete, a few touch-ups, there will be on-going stucco maintenance and inspections, fire wood to cut and split, a wood shed to build, the storage/garden shed to finish and organize, an addition in the next couple of years probably, landscaping, a garden or two, walkways, decks, etc… But for the next little while we are going to take it easy and enjoy a little break!

Enjoy the photos!

Forms for the concrete countertops. Keith wanted to try his hand at concrete countertops and we volunteered as the test case! Read the rest of this entry »

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Back to School

October 17th, 2009 by greenspree in Blogs - Shire Strawbale Home, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes

Tomorrow I will be applying to go back to school, enrolling in the BSc physics program with a parallel diploma in engineering. I will be attending part time, doing two courses per semester hopefully with the support of my workplace. It’s pretty exciting for me and the courses I will be taking will be both exciting and useful in my career.

I am a little worried that I will be able to handle the workload, however I think things on the house and at home should be calming down somewhat soon. We have moved into our house, are finished of three outside walls and 99.5% of the interior. Two weeks of rain have given us a good test for the wall system and it seems to be performing admirably.
*SIGH*
Relief.

I will hopefully be putting up some new photos of the house moved in and dressed up, as well as some photos of the completed outside walls. I wish Aliant would hurry up with the high speed expansion so we could get internet at home, but alas it is not available yet to us.

(cross-posted at greenspree.ca)

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MCNZ - Progress (part 7)

October 12th, 2009 by Conrad in Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Products + Materials, Reclaimed + Recycled Materials, Renewable Energy, Solar

The Mill Creek NetZero Home is substantially completed.

The stucco is finished on the outside. We went with a cement-based stucco because of its looks and durability.

Peter Amerongen built a brick wall behind the wood burner. We used the bricks from the foundation of the house that used to be standing on the property. This wall adds more thermal mass (to capture both solar and wood heat) to the house, as well as a bit of history. Read the rest of this entry »

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Slow Design: A Quick Primer

October 11th, 2009 by Deborah in Green Building + Design

Lately, I’ve been really intrigued by Slow Design, which is a cousin of the Slow Food, traditional skills, and voluntary simplicity movements, and the Zen Buddhist concept of wabi-sabi. The published Slow Design Principles (Strauss and Fuad-Luke, see www.slowlab.net) are couched in academic language, and the case studies cited mostly involve the design of objects or artistic installations. However, the principles and practices of Slow Design are tools that are useful to sustainable designers, decorators, and artisans of all disciplines. To summarize (and loosely quote) that document’s main points:

Slow Design:

facilitates ’slowness’ and provides a balance to the industrial-consumerist model of design.
seeks to shift the user’s awareness and attitudes about materials, processes, time, and natural environment. Read the rest of this entry »

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Eco Sense Summer update - on the verge of something

October 2nd, 2009 by ecosense in Blogs - Ann + Gord Eco-Sense, Community, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Water, Yard + Garden, composting

We continue to be inspired and disturbed, optimistic and pessimistic, excited and depressed. Seems that we are also not alone in these oscillating waves of emotion. But what is clear is that it’s emotion in the form of love, passion, and fulfillment that is driving us towards a sustainable future and giving meaning to our lives. We feel driven to do what it is we do. Check out the end of this post to see our latest ideas…

Outdoor cob bathroom with compost toilet

So here’s a quick snapshot for the goings on here at Eco-Sense.

A busy summer building the cob bathroom (with composting toilet) at the local lake. So far we have about 150 hours of volunteer time invested.

Donations are being accepted to the “Highland Park and Recreation Association”. Tax receipts issued for amounts over $50.

There has been a great deal of publicity on this project (and composting toilets) including the Goldstream Gazette, CBC radio, Monday Magazine, and Chek TV. It’s been busy around here! Read the rest of this entry »

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Airtight

September 22nd, 2009 by Conrad in Air Quality, Blogs - Mill Creek Net Zero Home, Energy, Energy Conservation, Green Building + Design, Green Building Blogs, Green Homes, Insulation

The importance of air tightness in building construction cannot be overstated. Very few factors affect energy performance in a cold climate more than air moving in and out of a building.

The Mill Creek Net Zero Home (MCNZ) has achieved an air tightness test result of 0.36 air changes per hour (ACH) at a pressure of 50 Pascal. In other words, when it’s really cold out, which creates a big pressure difference between the inside and the outside of a house, the 0.36 of the air in the MCNZH would leak out and be replaced with cold air over the course of an hour. It has the equivalent of a 13.8 square inch hole in it leaking air all of the time. Read the rest of this entry »

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Observations (Part 02)

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MCNZ - Progress (part 7)

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